The present invention relates to a helmet and a basic helmet concept with highly flexible construction for use in a number of different situations. The helmet can provide varying degrees of protection and can very easily alternate between the various forms of protection. In addition the individual parts of the helmet can easily be replaced.
Helmets are commonly known in the form of full-face helmets and half-face helmets, the difference between them being that the full-face helmet has additional protection of the area around the mouth and chin. The half-face helmet on the other hand protects only the sides and top of the head as well as to some extent the forehead and nape of the neck depending on its shape and size.
Furthermore, both full-face and half-face helmets may have a transparent visor for protecting the eyes and the face/head in the area round the eyes while at the same time permitting the person using the helmet to retain the ability to see.
In many cases it may be desirable not to employ the visor in order to avoid spoiling the visual experience. It may be necessary, moreover, to sometimes keep the visor in an open condition (completely or partly) in order to ensure satisfactory replacement of air in the interior of the helmet or to regulate the temperature, etc.
In many cases, however, it is desirable to be able to choose the degree of protection depending on whatever situation might arise. In such cases it is desirable to be able to choose between full-face and half-face helmet with and without visor in various combinations. In principle this calls for a helmet consisting of at least three parts that can be used in various combinations. These parts are, the actual head protection, chin protection (which also covers the mouth etc.) and a visor covering the field of vision.
In this connection various solutions are known where, for example, a loose chin guard is pivotably attached to the outside of the actual head protector, thus enabling the chin guard to be pivoted up over the head protector (often employed by motorcycle police). This may be combined with the visor. The drawback with this solution is that the chin guard has to be relatively large since its interior has to be capable of being passed over the outside of the actual head protector. In most cases, moreover, the helmet is not spherical in shape, with the result that the pivot point has to be located sufficiently high up on the side of the helmet to enable the chin guard to be moved between an inactive position over the helmet and an active position in front of the chin/mouth. This will always be a compromise and the solution has a number of disadvantages with regard to design and safety in addition to being expensive and complicated. Furthermore, the chin guard is extremely exposed to wind and weather in the inactive position and sealing between visor and helmet is difficult to achieve both at the upper and lower edges.
Helmets also exist with a releasable chin guard which is mounted in clip-like holders when required. These holders may, for example, be permanently fixed on each side of the helmet. The drawback in this case is that a loose chin guard has to be brought along separately.
There also exist various kinds of half-face helmet with and without visor. In these solutions the visor can be pivoted between an active and inactive position in front of the face or away from the face respectively. The pivot points are often on the side of the helmet and the visor is pivoted up on the outside of the helmet.
Prior art solutions are documented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,161 where a helmet with a head protecting part, a chin guard and a visor is disclosed, where the chin guard and the visor are individually pivotably connected about a point on each side of the head protecting part. The chin guard however moves on the same level as the visor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,914 a helmet is described with no chin guard and the visor is slidably and pivotably connected on supports on each side of the head protecting part.
In WO 00/60970 a helmet is disclosed also without the chin guard but with a visor pivotably connected and moving on the inside of the head protecting part.
Furthermore in U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,726 is described with a head protecting part and two visors individually connected about respective points on each side of the head protecting part.
Also U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,535 describes a helmet with a head protecting part with two visors pivotably connected on each side of the helmet, where the visors move on the outside of the head protecting part.
In many cases the police, military or civil security workers in particular require a helmet that can easily alternate between the protection offered by a full-face helmet with a visor and the security offered by a half-face helmet with or without a visor. This is required without loose parts so that the options are always available without further logistics. Furthermore, it is desirable to be able to pull down each individual element of the visor or chin guard individually. It is also desirable to be able to tighten and adjust the pivotable suspension in a simple manner and to be able to replace the individual parts quickly and easily. A helmet according to the above will be highly versatile and useful. It will also be possible to employ such a helmet in a number of civil situations in connection with sport and leisure activity, driving motorcycles or the like.
Depending on the area of application, it will be appropriate to employ various inner helmets or shock-absorbing “padding” on the inside of the helmet abutting the user's head. It is therefore desirable that a helmet as indicated above should be in the form of an outer helmet employed with an inner helmet according to requirements.
It is therefore an object to provide a helmet that satisfies the above requirements. Such a helmet should be capable of offering a head-protecting part with pivotably connected chin guard and visor, which helmet can be provided on different kinds of inner helmets and “padding” or linings abutting the user's head.